Game Night
Recap The group plays games on game night together. Marshall is unbelievably proficient at all forms of all games that they play. Therefore, they decide that Marshall should be the game moderator. Marshall takes this to mean that he is given the liberty to create fun new games for game night. Because Ted asked Marshall to not interrogate his new girlfriend, Victoria, Marshall creates a game which has rules bent around the idea of getting to know her better. Lily mentions a girl named Shannon whom she ran into. Barney denies the existence of this girl, even after Lily says that she remembers him, and had a tape. Barney takes the tape in her hand and destroys it in the kitchen of The apartment. Lily tells him that it was Ted's graduation, and the real tape was hidden in her purse. The group watches the tape, and Barney steals the tape and runs out of the apartment. Later, they all meet up in the bar where Barney eventually tells the group his most embarrassing story in pieces after they each tell embarrassing stories of their own. Barney reveals to the group his first, and supposedly only, relationship with another girl. Before he became "awesome", he intended to go to the Peace Corps with his girlfriend, Shannon. She describes being in the Peace Corps with him as "legendary". They were both very environmentally aware. One day, a man in a suit enters the coffee shop where the two of them work and orders coffee. He and Barney talk about his girlfriend. Barney feels that the man is rude, stating, "Women aren't objects; they're human beings." They do not go to the Peace Corps. Shannon lies to Barney, and breaks up with him, saying that her father does not want her to go. In reality, the man from the coffee shop hooked up with her, and she wants to move on from Barney. After seeing them kissing, and hearing her explain that he was a boyfriend, he looses his hitherto optimistic outlook on life. He composes a video cassette of him singing to her to get her back. Some time later, in the cafe, Shannon comes back to get her last paycheck. Barney is happy to see her, and runs up to talk to her. He asked if she got the tape, and her boyfriend replies affirmatively. The shock of discovering the identity of the boyfriend causes Barney to stumble, and he storms out the cafe in tears to avoid his teasing. He is walking down the street when someone shoves a flyer advertising suits with the slogan on the top "SUIT UP!" Barney then becomes "awesome" and transforms his appearance to that of the modern day Barney. He cuts his hair, shaves his face, and buys what is likely his first suit. In the present, after he storms out of the apartment, and before he tells the story, he goes back to Shannon, and catches up with her, then has sex with her. Continuity *When talking to Mrs. Eriksen about the cookies she sent Lily and Marshall, she mentions mayonnaise. This refers to the recent Thanksgiving Lily spent with the Eriksens in , where she prepared an Eriksen family special salad, with copious amounts of mayo. *Barney's "pre-suit" life is revisited in . *Ted's story of the "re-return" recounts what happens after the events of the . *Ted's admission of vomiting on Robin's doormat elicits a hurt response from Marshall because of Ted's bragging about being "Vomit free since '93" which he bragged about in . *Robin refers to an incident with her falling in horse poop as her most embarrassing moment. This occurred in . Gallery Barney's video.png|Barney's video, recorded by Barney to Shannon. Shannon.png|Shannon Suit Up!.png|The flyer that created Barney Stinson as we know him. Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *In Ted's re-return flashback, Ranjit is shown wearing a red sweater. However, as seen in the Pilot, Ranjit was wearing a light-blue sweater. *In the Pilot, Ted's tie didn't have stripes. Allusions and Outside References *The scene detailing Barney's change from hippie to suit-wearer is reminiscent of the scene in where first dons the black armor suit of . *In the game night flashbacks, the group plays , , and . *Marshall's game "Marshgammon" contains elements of , , , Poker, , and . Music Other Notes Guests *Ashley Williams - Victoria * - Shannon * - Greg *Suzie Plakson - Judy Eriksen * - Ranjit *Michael McNeely - Screaming Boy Reception References External Links * * * Category: Episodes Category:Season 1